Main navigation

Silver entrepreneurs

Ben McLoughlin shares some interesting stats about the new breed of ‘olderpreneurs’.

‘Age ain’t nothing but a number,’ crooned Aaliyah in her track of the same name. Lyrics that became suddenly apt when we discovered an impressive statistic about ‘olderpreneurs’ - enterprising individuals aged over 50 who are building successful businesses.

In a survey conducted by O2 Business it was found that a quarter of all over 55-year-olds surveyed have aspirations to be an ‘olderpreneur’ saying they would love to become their own boss. Over the past two decades, the number of people working beyond state pension age nearly doubled from 753,000 in 2003, to 1.4 million in 2011. Better health in older age groups means that senior entrepreneurship is being seen as a much more viable option – while changes to state pension and incapacity benefits have made it a life-changing move for some.

But whatever the reason, the numbers of senior entrepreneurs is at an all-time high, with success rates rocketing too. Consider this: around 70% of businesses started by silver entrepreneurs last longer than three years. As statistics go that isn’t half bad – but when you learn that only 28% of new businesses set up by their younger counterparts do as well, you’ll probably start to wonder what the big silver secrets are.

We know we did – which is why we’ve asked three inspiring olderpreneurs to take us through their journey to small business success, and gleaned some essential small business tips that you can use in your own ventures.